Is cycling the most physically demanding sport ?



Originally posted by ItalianStallion
Hmm... It doesn't really sound that much......

Marathon runners will have theirs up to 130-140 for the whole race.

Cyclist (I am taking a bit of a guess here) will be around 110 for most of their races......

Rowers (and I should know this) do training sessions for 2 hours in the 140-150 range, and up to 1 hour in the 150-170 range....

Motocross, however, probably requires a lot of concentration, even during training. Possibly more than most sports.

Back to the ESPN chart, I think most values are a bit (and a fair bit) out. As a former rower, and someone who's tried lots of sports, I think those values simply do not reflect reality.

Example: I used to do 1 hour stretching every day, plus 30 minutes of core stability exercies. How come is it that rowing only scored 4.00 in flexibility? Nerve: 1.75. I guess the writer never found himself racing side by side another crew with his heart rate at about 180 bpm!!!

And rodeo..... come on.......

I'm sure there will be people here that disagree with my views, but one of the reasons I stopped rowing is the little recongnition it gets. I hope you can understand this is a bit of a touchy subject for me.

Have a great day everyone!!!

I think you misunderstood, he was probably referring to heartrate as percentages of maximum and I'm sure that the heartrate for motocross or motorcycle racing would be higher than 90 bpm and I promise you racecar drivers have the same thing because they are under tremendous amounts of stress going 200 mph where there is the chance of any slight mistake in depth perception could mean the difference between life and death.

Secondly, it wasn't necessarily writers who decided those numbers, it was a panel of journalists, sport scientists, kinesiologists who made those judgments. You should have checked on the link of who comprised that panel before saying they were just writers, all of them had pretty vaunted credentials but you're right, a couple were sport journalists.

Thomas Davis
 
Originally posted by ItalianStallion
Hmm... It doesn't really sound that much......

Marathon runners will have theirs up to 130-140 for the whole race.

Cyclist (I am taking a bit of a guess here) will be around 110 for most of their races......

Rowers (and I should know this) do training sessions for 2 hours in the 140-150 range, and up to 1 hour in the 150-170 range....

Motocross, however, probably requires a lot of concentration, even during training. Possibly more than most sports.

Back to the ESPN chart, I think most values are a bit (and a fair bit) out. As a former rower, and someone who's tried lots of sports, I think those values simply do not reflect reality.

Example: I used to do 1 hour stretching every day, plus 30 minutes of core stability exercies. How come is it that rowing only scored 4.00 in flexibility? Nerve: 1.75. I guess the writer never found himself racing side by side another crew with his heart rate at about 180 bpm!!!

And rodeo..... come on.......

I'm sure there will be people here that disagree with my views, but one of the reasons I stopped rowing is the little recongnition it gets. I hope you can understand this is a bit of a touchy subject for me.

Have a great day everyone!!!

Also, about the nerve issue, you need to look at the definitions of each category, and nerve associated with rowing? Not a whole lot in my opinion because you do have the threat of losing a race if you lose the nerve and cadence, but you don't have the threat of losing your life if you screw up. That's why those sports that have signifcantly higher values for nerves require intense concentration with the possible threat of dying for f---ing up.

With rodeo, I'd disagree with you on rodeo. I know you probably have a vendetta against rodeo due to the fact that it gets more coverage than cycling does on OLN. But I respect those guys for having the balls to ride a 1000 to 1500 lb mammoth that's trying to buck them off and crush their heads in the process.

Thomas Davis
 
Originally posted by tomdavis80
I think you misunderstood, he was probably referring to heartrate as percentages of maximum and I'm sure that the heartrate for motocross or motorcycle racing would be higher than 90 bpm and I promise you racecar drivers have the same thing because they are under tremendous amounts of stress going 200 mph where there is the chance of any slight mistake in depth perception could mean the difference between life and death.

Secondly, it wasn't necessarily writers who decided those numbers, it was a panel of journalists, sport scientists, kinesiologists who made those judgments. You should have checked on the link of who comprised that panel before saying they were just writers, all of them had pretty vaunted credentials but you're right, a couple were sport journalists.

Thomas Davis

Having read the definitions (which I missed the first time around) I'm a bit more inclined to believe the rankings appear a bit more realistic. However, looking at the definitions, I believe many parameters that make a sport "hard" or "tough" or "difficult" have been omitted (in my personal opinion).

It's all fair to say that the most difficult sport is the one you get beat up most. Or that the most difficult sport is one that involves the biggest animal. A sport is about dedication, commitment, and a degree of talent. Assuming that you can't grade commitment, you'd have to grade the different talent aspects involved. And a sport requiring a great deal of physical and mental strentgh (talent) would be the winner.

Now, I don't consider risking my life riding a bull a talent. I consider the fact that you need to read the animal's reaction, adapt you position and hold, etc. That's talent. It's their choice if they decide to apply their talent to a dangerous sport. The same can be said of motorsport, and, to a certain extent, cycling.

One final point: in my opinion, if you want to provide a great and comprehensive analysis of 50 odd sports, you'd have to ask to a bit more than 10 journalists, professors and coaches. You have to ask the athletes themselves, find out what are the requirments of each sport and at that point have a panel analyze the results.

One more thing: I've said it before in this discussion and I'll say it again. I respect and admire any person who is actively or passively involved in any sport. It's the passion and commitment that make sports what they are, from a 20 years old risking his life to old men watching tv. And I am proud to be able to contribute to the growth and enjoyment of the sports I am most interested in.

Have a good day everyone!!
 
I haven't done that much cycling, but I thought I would chime in and vouch for rowing as possibly the most pysically demanding activity on earth.

I once pulled so hard through a 1.5k piece on a rowing machine that I almost blacked out when I finished. Then there were the steady state pieces we did for practice--2 or 3 hours of rowing without pause, 5 or 6 times a week. By the end of the first 2 hour piece of the season, you have skin falling off your hands and your legs are so tired you can hardly stand up out of the boat when you come back to dock.

From the cycling I have done, it just doesn't seem possible to exert myself that much when all I'm using is my legs.

Not to mention how difficult it is row in perfect unison with 1 to 7 other people.

Wrestling, kick-boxing, and swimming might compare to rowing--but it is unlikely they surpass it.
 
"From the cycling I have done, it just doesn't seem possible to exert myself that much when all I'm using is my legs."

The furthest I've ever been into the so-called pain barrier has been on my bike. I just started a new phase of fitness-training that involves cycling all the way up a mountainous road, standing all the way and fighting to complete each downstroke of the peddle. I can't imagine any activity that would be physically more demanding (with regard to fitness/endurance).

I have a lot of respect for all sports but I think cycling is the most physically demanding of anything I tried so far (running included). The fact you use the legs so much means the biggest muscles in your body are working which is why the demand on the body is so high.





Originally posted by injunandrew
I haven't done that much cycling, but I thought I would chime in and vouch for rowing as possibly the most pysically demanding activity on earth.

I once pulled so hard through a 1.5k piece on a rowing machine that I almost blacked out when I finished. Then there were the steady state pieces we did for practice--2 or 3 hours of rowing without pause, 5 or 6 times a week. By the end of the first 2 hour piece of the season, you have skin falling off your hands and your legs are so tired you can hardly stand up out of the boat when you come back to dock.

From the cycling I have done, it just doesn't seem possible to exert myself that much when all I'm using is my legs.

Not to mention how difficult it is row in perfect unison with 1 to 7 other people.

Wrestling, kick-boxing, and swimming might compare to rowing--but it is unlikely they surpass it.
 
Originally posted by injunandrew
I haven't done that much cycling, but I thought I would chime in and vouch for rowing as possibly the most pysically demanding activity on earth.

I once pulled so hard through a 1.5k piece on a rowing machine that I almost blacked out when I finished. Then there were the steady state pieces we did for practice--2 or 3 hours of rowing without pause, 5 or 6 times a week. By the end of the first 2 hour piece of the season, you have skin falling off your hands and your legs are so tired you can hardly stand up out of the boat when you come back to dock.

From the cycling I have done, it just doesn't seem possible to exert myself that much when all I'm using is my legs.

Not to mention how difficult it is row in perfect unison with 1 to 7 other people.

Wrestling, kick-boxing, and swimming might compare to rowing--but it is unlikely they surpass it.

If you haven't done those sports then you can't say that they might or might not compare to rowing. Same thing with cycling, no offense but you have to try those sports before you can make those judgments. Don't automatically presume that boxing or wrestling is not as demanding as rowing or cycling just because there is so much pain involved in the training sessions. If you haven't tried it, you can't possibly make a good comparsion.

Thomas Davis
 
What I've always thought as attributes of a difficult physical sport are the combination of dexterity, strength & endurance, mental fatigue, and the overall impact to the athletes body. More importantly the presence of these in training than in the competition.

Based on this, cycling is definitely very difficult, but not as much so as some other sports.

It is not solely the actual competition activity that should be used to determine the difficulty, but more so the training. Most of the time spent pursuing any sport endeavor will be spent training rather than in actual competion (in some cases the ratio may be 1000:1).

While a swimming race may only last a metter of minutes, competetive swimmers will train over 5 hours a day 6 days a week. In addition, there are no spinning days in swimming training, nor long descents.

After long hard climbs, my legs will wake me up in the middle of the night throbbing, but the impact is solely on my legs. Nothing compares to having a similar feeling including not only your legs, but your abs, back, shoulders, arms, and chest.

Then again, the challenges of sustained output at a high HR, requiring the expenditure of large watts of energy may be more critical than muscle groups used to do so.

All that said, the hardest sports to compete in are IMO...

(remember, my focus is on training)

1) Cross Country Skiing
Uses every muscle in your body
Long, intense cardio activity
Incredible dexterity and coordination
Mental stamina and pain tolerance
High average HR
Little or no recovery periods
Requires energy bursts and sustained output

2) Swimming (tie)
Uses every muscle in your body
Intense cardio activity
Incredible dexterity and coordination
Mental stamina and pain tolerance
Moderate average HR with high spikes (over period)
Frequent recovery periods
High strength to cardio fitness ratio
Requires energy bursts and sustained output

2) Rowing (tie)
Uses every muscle in your body
Intense cardio activity
Incredible dexterity and coordination
Mental stamina and pain tolerance
Moderate average HR with high spikes (over period)
Frequent recovery periods
Highest strength to cardio fitness ratio
Requires energy bursts and sustained output

4) Cycling
Long, intense cardio activity
Incredible dexterity and coordination
Mental stamina and pain tolerance
High average HR
Little or no recovery periods
High strength to cardio fitness ratio
Requires energy bursts and sustained output
Uses isolated muscle groups

5) Marathon Running
Long, intense cardio activity
Mental stamina and pain tolerance
High average HR
Little or no recovery periods
Low strength to cardio fitness ratio
Requires primarily sustained output
Uses isolated muscle groups

This is just a small list. of course you can throw any sport in here and see how it compares (speed skating may be between cycling and rowing/swimming)..... this is just how I see it.

P.S. I was a competetive swimmer my whole life (5th in 1996 US Olympic trials) and am now very into cycling. It's my experience that the training for swimming would wipe me out way beyond a hard ride. However, in general it is like comparing apples to oranges.
 
I find the SI ranking really funny...

Swimming (sprinting) vs
Track & Field (sprinting)

The ranking for "Speed - The ability to move quickly.".....

T&F scored a 9.88
Swimming scored a 7.88

What the heck is the difference in speed between the fastest runner and the fastest swimmer in the world? Either way, they have more speed than anyone else in the world?!?

Also...

Tennis scores 3.0 for Nerve?
You go stand in front of a 147mph Roddick serve.

FUNNY
:D

Keep in mind the SI's purpose in being is to keep people reading SI. Maybe that's why the top 4 are Boxing, Ice Hockey, Football, and Basketball?!? Bet they would have ranked baseball higher if they could have ever made the case.
 
I think the snag is different definitions of "the toughest sport" have been quoted. I agree that rowing and boxing are very demanding but sports such as wrestling or motorcycle riding don't compare in my view. That's because I've been referring to physical endurance related to fitness. I know that in wrestling bones get battered about the ring or you get kicked hard in Karate. However, there isn't the same kind of pain barrier in these sports as you get with an endurance sport (although I'm not saying these sports are easy by any means).
The only sports I can compare to cycling so far that I've done is weights, running and some team sports. I found cycling to be tougher on a personal level although I grant I've never boxed, rowed or seriously swam. I had a friend who swears cycling is far easier for him than running and he says he finds cycling easy. Maybe it varies for different people.



Originally posted by tomdavis80
If you haven't done those sports then you can't say that they might or might not compare to rowing. Same thing with cycling, no offense but you have to try those sports before you can make those judgments. Don't automatically presume that boxing or wrestling is not as demanding as rowing or cycling just because there is so much pain involved in the training sessions. If you haven't tried it, you can't possibly make a good comparsion.

Thomas Davis
 
I was actually thinking about that Nerve category a bit. What seems to us like it would require alot of nerve, might not cause the athlete trained in that sport to think twice. I mean, when I first started cross country skiing I usually stopped before any steep hill and had to build up the confidence and "nerve" to go down it, knowing that I'd probably end up falling down at some point. Now, those same hills require no "nerve" at all. I'm sure the same goes for many other sports as well. It would certainly require alot of "nerve" for someone who can't swim to try to get into (let alone race in) a racing single.

On the other hand, there are aspects of every sport that I'm sure never get easier. Boxing or football for example, I'm sure that preparing yourself for the hits you are going to take isn't easy. I know that one of the things that always made my stomach churn before a rowing race was the anticipation of the pain I was going to put myself through.

In my mind that is the kind of "nerve" that is worthy of noting. The kind where you have to deal with the _certainty_ that something painful or adverse is going to happen to you when you compete or train. Not the kind where you have to prepare yourself for the possibility of injury if your skill fails you (especially when that skill has been trained to the point where injury is a very remote possibility).
 
Originally posted by tomdavis80
If you haven't done those sports then you can't say that they might or might not compare to rowing. Same thing with cycling, no offense but you have to try those sports before you can make those judgments. Don't automatically presume that boxing or wrestling is not as demanding as rowing or cycling just because there is so much pain involved in the training sessions. If you haven't tried it, you can't possibly make a good comparsion.

Thomas Davis

I have tried many sports. Including the ones I listed, and also track and field, football, and soccer, to name a few.
 
Originally posted by Carrera
"From the cycling I have done, it just doesn't seem possible to exert myself that much when all I'm using is my legs."

The furthest I've ever been into the so-called pain barrier has been on my bike. I just started a new phase of fitness-training that involves cycling all the way up a mountainous road, standing all the way and fighting to complete each downstroke of the peddle. I can't imagine any activity that would be physically more demanding (with regard to fitness/endurance).

I have a lot of respect for all sports but I think cycling is the most physically demanding of anything I tried so far (running included). The fact you use the legs so much means the biggest muscles in your body are working which is why the demand on the body is so high.

You are definitely grossly underestimating how much work your legs do in rowing. Imagine hitting that pain barrier on your bike, then imagine that your arms and back are also throbbing in pain, and your hands are blistered to the point of bleeding.

Cycling is really tough...and actually very similar to rowing in many respects. That's why I've decided to take it up now that I can't row anymore.
 
Originally posted by jhodder
I find the SI ranking really funny...

Swimming (sprinting) vs
Track & Field (sprinting)

The ranking for "Speed - The ability to move quickly.".....

T&F scored a 9.88
Swimming scored a 7.88

What the heck is the difference in speed between the fastest runner and the fastest swimmer in the world? Either way, they have more speed than anyone else in the world?!?

Also...

Tennis scores 3.0 for Nerve?
You go stand in front of a 147mph Roddick serve.

FUNNY
:D

Keep in mind the SI's purpose in being is to keep people reading SI. Maybe that's why the top 4 are Boxing, Ice Hockey, Football, and Basketball?!? Bet they would have ranked baseball higher if they could have ever made the case.

Oh, btw, did you even look at the panel of "experts", they had a baseball player on it so don't tell me that it wasn't biased to baseball, it just goes to show that the baseball player, Brian Jordan, probably was pretty honest about his assessment of his own sport. Look before you speak.

Thomas Davis
 
Originally posted by tomdavis80
Oh, btw, did you even look at the panel of "experts", they had a baseball player on it so don't tell me that it wasn't biased to baseball, it just goes to show that the baseball player, Brian Jordan, probably was pretty honest about his assessment of his own sport. Look before you speak.

Thomas Davis

Nice going in the TBC!
 
I agree. When I was younger and used to squat heavy I'd be basically terrified of hauling the weight on my shoulders in case of failure. I put up with the fear that involved for some years but never bottomed out. As I got older I chose the option of squatting light but (as a consequence) I had to do very high reps to justify the drop in weight. Both options made me feel anxious I guess.
As for cycling I'm nervous about tearing down hills for fear of a crash. I would really hate to come off and think I must be a bit of a chicken on that score. Those guys who tear downhill at 70 mph must have nerves of steel.



Originally posted by menglish6
I was actually thinking about that Nerve category a bit. What seems to us like it would require alot of nerve, might not cause the athlete trained in that sport to think twice. I mean, when I first started cross country skiing I usually stopped before any steep hill and had to build up the confidence and "nerve" to go down it, knowing that I'd probably end up falling down at some point. Now, those same hills require no "nerve" at all. I'm sure the same goes for many other sports as well. It would certainly require alot of "nerve" for someone who can't swim to try to get into (let alone race in) a racing single.

On the other hand, there are aspects of every sport that I'm sure never get easier. Boxing or football for example, I'm sure that preparing yourself for the hits you are going to take isn't easy. I know that one of the things that always made my stomach churn before a rowing race was the anticipation of the pain I was going to put myself through.

In my mind that is the kind of "nerve" that is worthy of noting. The kind where you have to deal with the _certainty_ that something painful or adverse is going to happen to you when you compete or train. Not the kind where you have to prepare yourself for the possibility of injury if your skill fails you (especially when that skill has been trained to the point where injury is a very remote possibility).
 
The most demanding sport...suicide bombing. Easy to score, but making the finals is pretty tough.
 
Mountain biking versus road biking......Seems to me that mountain bike cross country racing not only requires at least the same great aerobic system that road racing does, but also requires more overall athleticism to succeed. So I would rank it as more physically demanding sport than road bike racing.

And perhaps this is why we have had examples of great mountain bike racers stepping in to road racing and becoming top competitors. Rasmussen went from a world champion mountain biker to a near TDF winner. And Floyd Landis came out of mountain bike racing as well. (Yes, there is the suspected drug thing with those two, but I am assuming the suspected drug thing is pretty much the case with all the top pros.) Ned Overend, at age 53 today, can still beat many pro road racers in a single hill climb road race event. Do we have examples of the reverse happening---great road race champions moving on to become great mountain bike race champions? Maybe we do; I don't follow what the pros are doing closely enough to know.
 
limerickman said:
Have been reading some stuff about rowing (Steve Redgraves
Biography : 1984,1988,1992,1996 and 2000 Olympic Gold Medallist Rower) and about hard he trained to reach the top of his sport.
This got me to thinking : you read of cyclists doing 30k kilometres
of training BEFORE the season commences :
Is cycling the most physically demanding sport there is ?
If you consider some other sport to be more physically demanding, perhaps you could tell us why this is so ?
after triathlons it is........
 

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